The present invention relates to a washing machine tub for use in a front loading washing machine, particularly a household washing machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to such a washing machine tub which may be formed of a relatively thin material such as stainless steel.
In recent years there has been a growing tendency to switch from enameled tubs to stainless steel tubs. This development has many technical advantages as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. However, in order to make this development cost competitive, it must be possible to use some existing assembly parts previously employed for enameled tubs, as well as to modify the tub structure so that it no longer acts as a support for the many various functional elements of the washing machine. Therefore, many solutions have been proposed to achieve this development.
The first such solution provided for a reduction of the thickness of the tub and for applying to the outer surface thereof a drawn metal shell to which the other functional elements of the washing machine are secured, as disclosed in British Pat. No. 2010926 B. This solution, even though it achieves the desired objective, has been found difficult to carryout, since such solution requires special machinery capable of manufacturing shells by a deep-drawing operation.
A subsequent solution provided for a modification of the support of the tub by extending the hub with offset arms running parallel to the axis of the hub and securing thereto the functional elements of the washing machine. However, even this solution has not been put into practical application, since substantial changes would have to be made in the entire structure of the tub, thereby making its manufacture less reliable.